<p>I will have to say that a lot of things have changed over the last 4.5 years and that the Senate is proposing more big changes. When do we get a chance for some stability? When do companies get a chance for some stability so that they can go out and hire people instead of worrying about the next big change that they have to deal with? I like to make long-term plans in an environment of stability; not on a sea of quicksand.</p>
<p>The upper middle class benefits with the mortgage deduction (I know a large group of people dont have mortgages). Also the prop tax deduction, retirement plans, and healthcare subsidies.</p>
<p>The wealthy benefit by cap gains tax laws, and inheritance tax laws. </p>
<p>Are we going to touch the latter two tax breaks? The ones the wealthy receive?</p>
<p>I think the approach of wiping the slate clean and then adding in tax breaks and raising rates as the tax breaks are added to the code is a good one. </p>
<p>There are so many lobbyists involved it will be interesting to see if change really occurs and who gets screwed. I am thinking the middle class is screwed. I hope I am wrong.</p>
<p>There are going to be winners and losers. With tax law changes, that is a fact.</p>
<p>Tax reform no. 1 (which we will never get): All income (including capital gains) should be subject to the same social security tax. The current blatantly regressive system is a disgrace.</p>
<p>I personally think that the upper class will always benefit from the tax code.</p>
<p>What I’d like to see is some stability in government for a few years. So that companies can put more time into building their businesses instead of dealing with quicksand. Ultimately having to deal with external issues puts hiring on hold unless you’re lawyer or accountant. The biggest problem today is jobs. I don’t understand why there isn’t a much bigger focus on jobs by the leaders in government. People having jobs solves a lot of other problem which we otherwise have to expend great resources to keep at bay.</p>
<p>Hmmm. That’s harder than I want to think about this morning. The biggest way to save taxes for me was to move to NH.</p>
<p>Ordered my son a Google Nexus 4 today (he’s paying for it). His phone died this weekend so he’s using my wife’s phone for now (they had identical cheap phones) so I asked him what he wanted. I recommended the Nexus 4 as it’s a nice combination of functionality and price but I also showed him the HTC-One and Galaxy S4. I think that he’d have gone for the HTC-One if price was no object - it’s a beautiful phone. I also told him that if he didn’t like the Nexus 4, we’d give it to my wife and he could pick something else.</p>
<p>He has a prepaid account with AT&T which has several hundred dollars of carryover so he wants to keep the account. I don’t think that an iPhone would have been an option, especially with the new SIM card form factor that they just went to. Price and the price of the plan does matter. I like the iPhone and I think that my son would too but his choice right now is to not buy a high-end model.</p>
<p>For Apple products, there is an active second hand market. Each time I get a new Mac I sold my old one for $3-400. That effectively lowered the new Mac net price.</p>
<p>I hadnt thought of the second hand market for aapl products. Interesting. </p>
<p>Doct, great, great link.</p>
<p>Simons is a brilliant guy. That is a very interesting strategy. If Simons wins, congress is going to have to change the tax code. Otherwise, hedge funds are going to copy Simons.</p>
<p>Traders already get preferential treatment with futures and sometimes with options. I didnt realize they were gaming the system with swaps too. What a racket!</p>
<p>I wonder if Simons is going to win his case. There were some financial benefits by doing what be did. It increased his leverage. 80 percent returns. Amazing.</p>
<p>Simons is one of the wealthiest people in the world and the tax breaks that already exist for him are not enough?</p>
<p>Wow!!!</p>
<p>No matter how smart some people are they can still be screwed up…</p>
<p>The active second-hand market probably supports higher prices of their products. The issue of SIM card formats factored into our decision too as we are going to try to use an older SIM card with a Smartphone in a prepaid plan without data which AT&T technically doesn’t allow you to do but they let us get away with it. I don’t think that they would let us get away with it on an iPhone, even if we had compatible SIM cards.</p>
<p>Certainly. If you can get $300 for your old Mac, the new one is that much less. It makes it comparable to non-mac pricewise. I was amazed how easy it was. The pricing is done on line. You give them specs and they give you the price. Send your old mac and a few weeks later a check arrives. I’ve done it three times, no hassle so far.</p>
<p>About Simon, I don’t see how he can lsoe. It was lawful right or wrong. That’s why I believe in a small government. There will always be someone taking advantage of a complicated system of a bloated government.</p>
<p>Legality is not the defining line between being screwed up or not. There are many smart people walking around that arent breaking laws and are screwed up.</p>
<p>Simons used 9 to 1 leverage. </p>
<p>I read the IRS memorandum. I hope Simons loses. Very clever what he did.</p>
Are you advocating completely breaking the link between taxes paid and benefit received?</p>
<p>It’s already to the point where on average people won’t even get back as much as they’ve paid in, let alone any “return” on their “investment”.</p>
<p>Best argument ever for a flat tax: the gov’t collects about the same $ amount in FICA tax, which is 15.4% of your first $113K in earned income, as it does through the entire Federal income tax system.</p>
<p>What a couple of senators are doing is starting with a flat tax and asking their colleagues what deductions and tax breaks should be added to the tax code. Kind of starting from scratch.</p>
<p>Guess what? If we reform the tax code, We arent going to end up with a flat tax. Many tax breaks are going to be worthwhile to keep for somebody. Tax rates will be higher because of the tax breaks. Hopefully, what Simons is doing wont be allowed. Carried interest will be thrown away.</p>
If you aren’t keeping an income ceiling that is at least somewhat related to the benefit, any fiction that SS is some type of “pension plan” goes completely out the window, and it just becomes an inter-generational money transfer, to the wealthiest age bracket as a class.</p>